Prof. Dr. Richard R Schmidt
A tribute
Photo of the BOSS
Dedicated to Prof. (em.) Dr. Richard R. Schmidt, a renowned Scientist and Professor at the University of Konstanz, Germany, to honour and celebrate his 78th birthday
Richard R. Schmidt was born on 14 May 1935 in Schwaebisch Hall, Germany. He received his Diploma in chemistry in 1960 from the University of Stuttgart where, from 1955, he studied chemistry on a fellowship from the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes. He received his Ph.D. in 1962 for a thesis entitled, "Investigations on Vinyl Homologues of Carboxylic and Carbonic Acid Derivatives – New Quinone Methides" in 1962 under the supervision of Professor Rudolf Gompper. After a postdoctoral fellowship with Prof. Frank M. Huennekens at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla/California on coenzyme B12 studies in biochemistry, he returned to Stuttgart to complete his habilitation on "Polar 1,4-Cycloadditions – a New Synthesis Principle" and to develop his independent research work. He has held the chair of chemistry at the University of Konstanz since 1975 where he served as Head of Department (twice), Dean of Faculty (twice) and Vice president of the University; he has been Emeritus Professor since 2003.
The scientific work of the Schmidt group has been documented in over 630 articles in peer- reviewed journals, in many filed and issued patents and in numerous invited lectures at national and international conferences.
Early work was devoted to the development of new (now classic) concepts in organic synthesis, including for instance, polar cycloadditions, generation of functionally substituted vinyl carbanions, heterocyclic 8.-systems, and de novo-synthesis of carbohydrates. Since the late 1970s, his research group has concentrated on synthetic procedures for compounds occurring in cells and particularly in cell membranes and cell walls. The group received especially high credit for the design of new glycoside bond formation methodologies, such as anomeric O- alkylation, introduction of O-glycosyl trichloroacetimidates, O-glycosyl phosphites and
